It is promising to be a great summer of sport: Wimbledon this month, an Ashes series in August, the Rugby World Cup in September hopefully with a sprinkling of Chiefs’ players in the squad, the prospect of Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City

battling out in League Two later in the year. Even the Diocesan cricket team revived its fortunes in a modest way!

The glory of sport, whether we watch or play, is pitting skill against skill, strength against strength. It tests character, brings glory, makes heroes and offers hope – think of the English teams trailing in the Champions League semi-finals or of Tiger Woods winning the Masters at Augusta.

For the Apostle Paul, sport was a favourite picture of following Christ. He writes of running, boxing, rowing, competing in a race. He uses phrases such as ‘pressing on towards the goal’ or ‘winning the crown of righteousness’, of the discipline of the athlete, the glory of competing and an honesty of life (‘no athlete is crowned without competing according to the rules’) in order to give apt illustrations for the well lived Christian faith.

Then there is the team dimension, working together with different gifts for a greater cause.

That’s true not only for the obvious team sports. These days every professional golfer or cyclist has a team behind them.

As we know from church life, we are ‘better together’, called into the body of Christ, to work for the cause of God’s kingdom.

Sport requires order, rules and parameters within which a game can be played. These might be white lines on a tennis court or long hallowed codes of conduct.

It is not acceptable that anything goes, that everyone’s view point is equally valid or that rules can be made up as we go along. Sport like life is ordered within a framework within which creativity and endeavour can flourish.

As we sit in front of the telly eating strawberries and watching Wimbledon, we might just consider what sport tells us about ourselves and society, so that we might better fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith.

The Right Revd Nick McKinnel Bishop of Plymouth

TEAM WORK: HOW SPORT HELPS US LIVE OUT THE GOSPEL

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Members of the re-established Exeter Diocesan Cricket Team

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The Diocese of Exeter clergy cricket team celebrated its first win in FOUR YEARS when it beat the Diocese of Oxford by 99 runs. Team member, the Rt Revd Mark Rylands said: “Jesus is Good News and so is this!”

GOOD NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE OF EXETER | JULY 2019

JOHN BELL AT HOLY GROUNDIona musician to be special guest at Cathedral service... and he has planned the music for the Eucharist

RUNNING THE RACEThe Right Revd Nick McKinnel reflects on the number of sport analogies in the New Testament

EXETER.ANGLICAN.ORG @CofEDevon Diocese of Exeter cofedevon

THY KINGDOM COME

Prayer has been centre stage across Devon thanks to dozens of Thy Kingdom Come events across the

county. The global prayer initiative was launched by the Bishop of Crediton with outdoor prayers around a fire pit at Lee Abbey in North Devon.

Other events included a treasure hunt, prayer walks, community prayer benches, hill climbs, creative prayer stations, Love SouthWest at Plymouth Pavillions and a Pentecost celebration at Exeter Cathedral.Visit www.facebook.com/CofEDevon

Diocese joins the whole world to feel power of prayer

Thy Kingdom Come prayer events spanned the whole Diocese

Credit: Huw Riden

Credit: Love South West

THE Bishop of Plymouth, The Rt Revd Nick McKinnel, has described events to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy as “immensely impressive” and “very moving”.

The Bishop was in Normandy to take part in a Royal British Legion remembrance service at Bayeux Cathedral, a wreath laying at the British cemetery there and a peace symposium in Caen, which was almost destroyed during Operation Overlord in 1944.

The Diocese of Exeter is twinned with the Diocese of Bayeux Lisieux.

The Bishop said: “It was immensely impressive to see the veterans, all in their nineties,laying their wreaths at the cemetery; it was very moving.”

Bishop Nick is pictured with Vatican representative Cardinal Ouellet.

BISHOP FINDS D-DAY EVENTS ‘VERY MOVING’

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BISHOP MARTIN TO LEAD PILGRIMAGEThere is still time to sign up for a pilgrimage to Sicily led by Bishop Martin Shaw.

It will take place from September 10 to 21st and will include guided tours of Catania, Siracusa, Palermo, Monreale and Cefalu. There will also be a visit to Marsala vineyard for a tour and tasting.

The cost is £1,699 with return flights from Bristol to Catania.

An ecumenical pilgrimage and services took place in Crediton to celebrate Devon’s new patron saint, St Boniface.

The Bishop of Crediton, the Rt Revd Jackie Searle, and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Plymouth, the Rt Revd Mark O’Toole, led the day which included Sung Evensong, a procession to the statue of St Boniface, a procession to the National Shrine of St Boniface and ended with Solemn Benediction.

PILGRIMAGE FOR ST BONIFACE

The preacher, hymnwriter, composer, lecturer and broadcaster, John Bell, is the special guest at July’s Holy Ground at Exeter Cathedral. An ordained minister of the Church of Scotland, John is part of the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian community of women and men who seek to live out the Gospel in a way that is radical, inclusive and relevant to life in the 21st century. He will invite the congregation to participate and sing songs that carry themes of justice, and he has planned the music for the Eucharist.The service is on July 21 at 7pm in the cathedral.

JOHN BELL TO BE ‘HOLY GROUND’ GUEST

IT’S GOODBYE TO BARRY, HELLO TO CLAREThe Diocese of Exeter’s Mission Enabler has a pivotal new role as Archdeacon Missioner in the Diocese of Coventry.

The Revd Barry Dugmore said he was really excited as he has a ‘real passion for releasing the gifts of the whole body of Christ.’

Meanwhile, Clare Cooke has just started work as Mission Advisor for Early Years (0-5). Clare, who was a teacher, will be helping churches to reach out to families with young children.

Was your Christian faith kindled from birth by church-going parents or was it more of a Damascus road experience?I was raised in a Christian family, attending a small Methodist church and then a large suburban Anglican church where I found faith for myself. Faith for me continues to come in sudden bursts and with gradual realisations.

When did you first feel called to ordination?I began my working life as a teacher, then felt God’s call to move with our growing family to St. George’s House (Christian Outdoor Centre) in North Devon. After eight years, I became a community carer and an NHS trainer, thinking God was calling me to midwifery. I spoke at a large memorial service for my mother in 2006, and someone said, “I think you should consider your role in the church.” Simple words rang deep, confirmed with another vicar describing his role as a ‘spiritual midwife’.

What do you find are the biggest challenges of rural ministry? It’s easy to be nostalgic about country life. Yes, we live in a beautiful place, but there are some tough challenges being faced by people; uncertainty over the future for farmers, isolation, poor transport,

unaffordable housing, low pay, and the struggle to keep and maintain community facilities ... to name just a few. Often the church is the only community building left for miles around. Mission (for me) is about living out God’s good news for all people and in his strength alone - and that’s the same wherever God has placed his people and whatever size of congregation gathers.

What / who sustains you in your ministry? Joy and obedience (Psalm 51:12, ‘Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me’). Joy in unexpected moments of seeing God at work – and obedience, keeping going when times are hard.

What do you think is the most important aspect of being a priest?Standing back rather than stepping forward. This is often tricky in church and community culture where a priest is seen as a figurehead/opener of village fetes. But if I have done my job well, then it is by encouraging the church in our communities to be church in the places where God calls, with confidence to articulate faith and courage to be present in places of need.

REVD ROSIE AUSTIN

Serving with joy…

With Rural Mission Sunday on July 14, we talk to the Revd Rosie Austin, Team Rector to Shirwell Mission Community on the edge of Exmoor. Rosie, who was ordained in 2011, is also Rural Dean to Shirwell Deanery.

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